Frequency modulation system



June 3, 1952 H. K. RICHARDS FREQUENCY MODULATION SYSTEM Filed Aug. 5, 1948 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. Hans. K. Richards BY Patented June 3 1952 FREQUENCY MODULATION SYSTEM Hans K. Richards, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Motorola, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 5, 1948, Serial No. 42,713

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to electronic wave modulators and more particularly to a frequency modulating system in which large fre quency deviations are produced in a very high frequency oscillator.

In frequency modulation transmitting systems, it is necessary that the center frequency of a carrier wave be held within very close tolerance, and relatively wide frequency deviation of the carrier be produced by the modulating signal. These wide deviations of the carrier are necessary in order to produce a good signal-to-noise ratio in the frequency modulating receivers which are operating with the transmitter. The individual channels in which any signal communication may take place is now limited to provide the large number of channels now required for radio communication. Therefore, in order to provide the maximum deviation and still stay Within the authorized channel limits, the carrier center frequency must be held within very close limits.

To meet the above requirements, crystal controlled oscillators are generally used. However, present modulating systems will only provide very small deviation of the carrier frequency and in order to produce adequate deviation for good communication, the carrier frequency must be multiplied many times. This requires a large number of stages and presents difiiculties due to the various frequencies which are derived in producing the final transmitting frequency from the original crystal frequency. Therefore,to provide a satisfactory system a large number of vacuum tube stages are required which include highly selective circuits so that all undesired frequencies are carefully eliminated.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a simple crystal controlled frequency modulator.

A further object of this invention is to provide a very high frequency, crystal controlled, frequency modulator which produces large frequency deviation so that high orders of multiplication are not required.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a frequency modulator including an oscillator having a crystal controlled feed-back circuit which provides the necessary feed-back for oscillations-only when operating within a predetermined frequency range.

A further feature of this invention is the provision of an oscillator including a frequency controlling circuit having reactance which may be varied in accordance with a modulating signal and a second frequency controlling circuit stabilized by a crystal.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of a modulator including an oscillator having a frequency controlling circuit in which the reactance is varied in accordance with the modulating signal by a reactance tube and in which the frequencies of oscillations are limited by a feed-back circuit including a crystal.

7 A still further feature of this invention is the provision of a crystal controlled oscillator in which the frequency may be shifted through predetermined limits by a reactance tube, with the amplitude of the oscillator being held at a low level so that the reactance tube will be more effective.

Further objects, features and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the frequency modulator in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a simplified circuit illustrating the principles of the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a chart illustrating the operation of the system.

In practicing the invention, relatively large deviations in frequency are produced in a very high frequency oscillator having a crystal which in effect limits the frequency range in which oscillations are produced. The oscillator includes a first frequency controlling circuit coupled between the anode and control grid of the oscillator tube which includes a reactance element which can be varied in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal. This element may include a reactance tube. The oscillator also includes a feed-back circuit coupled between the anode and cathode thereof which is effective to provide the feed-back required for oscillations only within a predetermined frequency range. This may be accomplished by a crystal, the impedance of which is much lower at the resonant frequency than at other frequencies. Therefore, the amount of feed-back provided will depend upon the frequency of oscillations. The circuit isadjusted so that sufficient feed-back to produce oscillations is provided only within predetermined frequency limits. At high frequencies it may be necessary to neutralize the shunt capacity of the crystal by connecting an inductor across the crystal. Such an inductor has the additional advantage of widening the response band of the crystal feedback circuit. In order to produce wide frequency deviation of the oscillator center frequency, the amplitude of the oscillations maybe held at a low level so that the effect of a reactance tube in the ,33 and 3A are for radio frequency bypass. fixed negative bias-is applied to thegrid 26 from shows a simplifiedcircuittnf the oscillat r.-

thiscircuit the oscillator ube is desi nated as 59 a in u es a-first-frequc y eterm nin -circuit main frequency controlling circuit is accentuated.

Referring now to the drawings, in Fig. 1 there is illustrated one embodiment of the frequency modulator in accordance with the invention.

The modulator includes atriode oscillator ll) hav- .ing an anode ll, control grid I2, and cathode H2.

allel between the anode H and the control grid I2. The control grid l2, 'whichis grounded. is

:biased with respect to the cathode l-3by resistor l1 and inductor l8 connected in series. A feedback circuit is provided between-theanod Han cathode I3 including the capacitor l9, the input capacity of tube 21!, the crystal 2i, which is bridged by inductor 22, and "capacitor 23. This feed-back circuit has an impedance which varies with frequency to limit the frequency of oscillalations as will be more fully explained.

The reactance .tube I15, in effect, varies theinlating signal is applied through resistors 21 and 28, a screen grid 29 connected to plus B through resistor 30 and an anode 3! connected to plus B through inductor l and resistor 32. Capacitors A a source of potential C through resistor 26. Feed-back for the reactance tubeis provided from the cathode 35 of tube which has a tuned plate circuit which functions as a frequency multiplier. The feed-back results fromcathode follower ac.-

tion which-produces a voltageacross inductor at the output terminal The triode sect in audio mayobviously he provide -in a sin l tube'envelope.

C ns d in -rim the operation cribs-frequenc m dulator; refere ce ;is-inadc to His- 2 which 1' z! connectedbetween'the anode and control grid, a second frequency determining Circuit Z2 con nected between the control gridand the cathode and a third frequency determining circuitZsccnnected between the anode and cathode. The oil:- cuit Z! may be used as the frequency controlling circuit of the oscillator, and it is-obvious that the frequency of ioscillation can be varied by varying either the'inductorfil or the capacitor .52 thereof. The impedance Z2 has relatively littlecontrol of the frequency .of' the oscillator and this impedance may be set at the optimum value for the frequency involved and retained thus.

The-impedanc -Z3 of Fig. 2is in the feed+back circuit of the'oscillator, andoscillations will be 7 imseries with a capacitor '53 which may include Ithe' input capacitance of J a tube as il'lustrated in Fig; 1. The impedance Z3=includes anrystal 54 janode 39 by coupling capacitor 32. The resonant l ne 43 may be t ned to a h rmonic of h crys f q l y and 1 1 mul iplied e u ncy der that'the oscillator is very'stable.

across which the inductor 55 is bridged. The inductor 55 is for the purpose of neutralizing the shunt capacity ofthe crystal and mounting so that the crystal becomes effectively an inductance and capacitance in series. It is well known that the impedance of a crystal finds its equivalent in a circuit having capacity and inducta-ncein series and shunt capacitance across th'e'ser-ies circuit. At very high frequencies, the low reactance of the .shunt capacity may permit feed-back producing spurious oscillations. By providing an inductor, such as 5-5, for tuning the shunt capacitance to the-resonant frequency of the crystal, the shunt capacitanceis neutralized and this undesired effeet is eliminated. The neutralizing inductor is also efiective to widen the response band of the crystal as will'befully explained.

Itiis kIiOWIl that the impedance of a neutralized crystal is low at the resonant frequency of the crystal and harmonics thereof and increases relatively rapidly as the frequency differs from such frequencies. This is illustrated by the curve A in Fig. 3 which shows the impedance of the crystal being a minimum at point i which is the resonant frequency of the crystal and then increasing substantially linearly on each side of the resonant frequency'until the anti-resonantfrequencies are approached where the crystal impedance increases sharply. The difference between the resonant and anti-resonant frequencies of the crystal is proportional to the ratio of the series capacity of the crystal to the shunt capacity. When the crystal is neutralized, the d-ifierence between the resonantand anti-resonant frequencies is propor- .tional to the square root of this ratio. As the ratio of series to-shunt capacitance of the crystal is of the order of one-hundredth to one-thousandth, the square root is larger than the ratio and therefore the frequency difference when the crystal is neutralized is'greater. It is to be pointed out that only a portion of the frequency difference between the resonant and anti-resonant frequencies can be used, but neutralization is effective to increase this frequency range. Curve A shows the absolute value of the impedance without reference to whether it is inductive or capacitative. It is, therefore, seen that th feed-back circuit including impedance Z3 will permit the feed-back required for producing oscillations only within a limited frequency range.

CurveB in Fig. 3 also illustrates the impedance of ZI with varying frequency. The curve B is, in effect, shifted when thei-mpedance Zl is changed as by varying thexinductor 5! or the capacitor 52, as illustrated by curves BI and B2. Varying the impedance of ZI therefore, changes the frequency of theoscillato'r, or in other words, frequency modulates the wave produced by the oscillator. The impedance of Z! maybe shifted in anysuitablemann'er as by-the use .of a reactance tube across the inductor 5i and capacitor 52 as shown in Fig. 1. However, other means for varying the reactance of'the element-might be used as, for example, the use of'a-lcondenser microphone in the Z l circuit.

It will'be apparent from Fig. 3 that variation of the frequencyof the oscillator-by varying Zl is limited to the range of frequencies in which the impedance of the crystal 54 is such that the ne'cessary-feed-back is provided. This provides adequatecontrol of the oscillator frequencyso Calculations and -tes'ts have indicated a stability about times better than in oscillators not" including a crystal. It is, therefore, seen-that the oscillator will work within limits where the crystal impedance is low enough to permit sufficient feed-back and the impedance of Z! is high enough to provide a sufiicientvoltage between the anode and the grid that such feed-back can be provided. When the frequency at which the impedance of the crystal is a minimum is different from the frequency at which Z! is a maximum, a compromise value will be reached, but if the frequency of Z! differs too much from the resonant frequency of the crystal, oscillations will stop. The impedance Z2 should be high so that the cur-. rent passing through Z2 produces enough feedback voltage. I v

Referring again to Fig. 1 and the operation of this circuit, it is apparent that the condenser i4, inductor I5 and reactance tube It comprise the impedance Zl of Fig. 2. These elements in parallel establish the frequency of the oscillator If) within limits where sufficient feed-back is provided through the crystal 2 l In actual operation a crystal operating at megacycles has been used and the frequency of the oscillator is set at the third harmonic of the crystal or 30 megacycles. As previously stated, the neutralized crystal will have a minimum impedance at the harmonic frequencies as well as the fundamental. As thecrystal has the effect of stiffening the control of the oscillator, the resistor 45 is provided to cut down the amplitude of the oscillations so that the change in the impedance Zl produced by the reactance tube will be effective to provide relatively large frequency deviation. Deviations of the 30 megacycle waveof the order of 10 kilocycles have been produced and, by multiplying this five times in the tube 20, a 150 megacycle wave having a deviation of 50 kilocycles was produced. Highly satisfactory operation of the reactance tube resulted by providing feed-back therefor from the cathode of the multiplier stage. This arrangement provides minimum loading of the tuned circuit and thereby produces a larger voltage swing which in turn produces more deviation. This feed-back system together with the reduction of amplitude of the oscillations by the resistor 45 makes the reactance tube highly effective to control the circuit which is made very stiff by the crystal.

It is, therefore, seen that accurately controlled frequency modulation having a sufficiently wide swing is produced in a very simple system. The crystal provides sufiiciently good control of the oscillator frequency that the transmitting carrier frequency is held within the required limits and interference with adjacent channels is substantially eliminated. The required deviation is produced without a plurality of multiplier stages so that the equipment is simplified and radiation at undesired frequencies is eliminated. The system is not unduly critical of adjustment and provides reliable operation.

While one embodiment of my invention which is illustrative thereof has been described, it is obvious that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the intended scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A frequency modulation system comprising an oscillator, a frequency controlling circuit for in accordance with the amplitude of the modulating signal, and a feedback circuit for said oscillator separate from said frequency controlling circuit, said feedback circuit including a vacuum tube and a parallelcircuit including a piezoelectric crystal and inductance means bridged thereacross, with said tube having an input electrode coupled to said frequency controlling circuit and having an output electrode coupled through said parallel circuit to said oscillator for holding the center frequency of the oscillator within predetermined limits.

2 A frequencymodulation system comprising an oscillator, a frequency controlling circuit for said oscillator including variable reactance means, means for varying the value of said reactance means in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal so that the frequency of said oscillator deviates from a center frequency in accordance with the amplitude of the modulating signal, and ;a feedback'circuit for said oscillator separate from said frequency controlling circuit, said feedback circuit including a vacuum tube and a series resonant element, with said tube having an input electrode coupledto said frequency controlling circuit and having an output electrode coupled through said series resonant element'to said oscillator for holding the center frequency of the oscillator within predetermined limits. I a V '3'. A frequency modulation systemcomprising an oscillator, a frequency controlling circuitfor said oscillator including a reactance tube. means for varying the effective reactance of said tube in accordance with'the amplitude of a modulat ing signal so that the frequency of said oscillator deviates from a center frequency in accordance with the amplitude of the modulating signal, and feedback means for said reactance tube and said oscillator including a cathode follower coupled on the inputside thereof to said frequency controlling circuit, with said cathode follower being coupled on the output side thereof to the input side of said reactance tube, said feedback means including also a piezoelectric crystal coupling the output side of said cathode follower to said oscillator for limiting the variations of the oscillator center frequency.

4. A frequency modulation system comprising an oscillator including an electron discharge valve having a cathode, an anode and a grounded grid, a frequency controlling circuit coupled to the anode of said oscillator valve, said frequency controlling circuit including variable reactance means and means for varying the value of said reactance means in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal so that the frequency of said oscillator deviates from a center frequency in accordance with the amplitude of the modulating signal, and a feedback circuit for said oscillator including a second electron discharge valve and a piezoelectric crystal, with said second valve having a control grid coupled to said frequency controlling circuit and having a cathode coupled through said crystal to the cathode of said oscillator valve for holding the center frequency of the oscillator within predetermined limits.

, 5. A frequency modulation system comprising an oscillator, a frequency controlling circuit for said oscillator including variable reactance means, means for varying the value of said reactance means in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal so that the frequency'of said oscillator deviates from a center frequency agtcsgezz i-n acccrdance with the amplitude of the modu 1 mung-si nal; "a frequency multiplier wincludin a vaeuum tu'be having' an' input electrode coupled t0 thewoutput'sid'e Of sai'fi 05011181301, said millilipliertubealsohaving anuoutput electrode; and feedback'coupling means for said oscillator includili'g a pie'zoelectric crystal coupling-- meroms; Aireq uency moauiau'on system comprising an Qsciuamr including aneieetmn discharge valve havin'gacathode-an-anode and a grounded grid, a'rre uencycontrolling-circuit coupled to the anode-ofsaid- -oscilla-tor valve, said. frequency I controlling circuit-including variable rea'ctance m'eansand m'eans for varying the value or said reactance cmeans in accordance with the-amblitud'e or azmodulati-ngsignal: so that the frequency 1 oi said oscillator deviates from a center freeqi-ienc'y in acccrdance with the amplitude-cf the modulatingzsignali a frequency multiplierincluding: a secOnd-eIectrOn discharge 'valve having a cathode, and feedback means for said oscillator including a piezoele'ctri'c crystal coupling the i catlicde of sai-d'multipl'ier valve to the cathode I cf said oscillatonvali e, said crystal having the prolfie'rtiesof a series-resonant'element at the desired center frequency of said oscillator for limiting" the Variaticns of such center frequency.

"7. A fi'equency modulation system comprising 3 an osciilatordncluding an electron discharge 1 valve having, atlea'st acathode; an anode anda control grid-a frequency control circuit coupling saitiancdeandsaid co'ntroligrid, and a feedback said feedbackcircuit including a second electron discharge -valve l'laving atleast'acontrol grid and a cathode and also including an impedance e1e= control grid coupled to the anode of said os'cillater waive and also including an anode and a j circuitcoupling' 'said anodeand said cathode,

merit-having the prcpe'r'ty or a-series--'re'sonant circuit at a particular fre'que'I-fcy,' 'v ofs'aid second valve being couple quency controlling circuit, and said second valve being-coupled t id impedance. element-to the cathiie of s was llater valve for causing the frequency'fi of said oscillator to be symmetrical withiesb'et to said-particular frequency.

8. A frequency modulaticn system comprise an oscillator, a irequen'cycontrclling circui 6r said oscillator including varia le i eta ce actance means in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal so that the fi equenwo latingsignal, a frequency multiplier responsive to tl'ie output of said mama-terror rammin -a .elesiredi harmonic or "the cseil-latoi" ffqlieiic'y. 1

Number 7 Name Date 2,298,438 Us s'elmall' :O C' fi. 7 1311942 2,316,927 Winlund A111. 20;, '1943 2,343,099 Usselman new, 295.1944 2,438,392 V Gerber 23,1948 

